Cancer Programs Virtual Hill Day

Thank you to all who participated in the first Virtual Capitol Hill Day that took place on September 8 during the 2017 Cancer Programs Conference. The actions focused on protecting the future of quality cancer care through advocacy. Surgeon advocates across the nation and conference attendees participated and made their voices heard by colleagues and members of Congress via social media. Participants used #cancerprogramsday and ACS Twitter handles to advocate for policies that could affect the future of cancer care, took action by contacting members of Congress via SurgeonsVoice, and shared information via social media about how cancer education, research, and prevention saves lives.

The ACS Cancer Programs Virtual Capitol Hill Day activities resulted in the following:

Sixty (60) letters to members of Congress regarding the Support Access to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act, the Palliative Care Hospice Education and Training Act, and cancer research funding in federal fiscal year 2018

More than 245 #cancerprogramsday mentions tweeted

More than 14,340 Twitter impressions (interaction or replies from others online), including 50 retweets; and engagement of several members of Congress, including Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), the Democratic lead on the recently introduced House resolution (H. Res. 503) recognizing the role of accreditation by the ACS Cancer Programs, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

For more information, contact Carrie Zlatos, ACS Senior Congressional Lobbyist, at czlatos@facs.org, or Katie Oehmen, Manager of ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC and Grassroots, at koehmen@facs.org.